Using Understanding Society, the researchers also found that people born in the late 1980s who did not attend university were almost twice as likely to experience a turbulent start to their working lives, characterised by periods of unemployment, part-time employment, and inactivity, compared to those born in the 70s.
Published today in Population, Space and Place, the study by UCL and University of Liverpool authors used Understanding Society data to analyse the school to work trajectories of 1,860 people in three birth cohorts – those born in 1974-1979, 1980-1984 and 1985-1990 – across 10 years after they completed school, between the ages of 16-26.
The study found that the younger cohort (born 1985-1990) experienced more complex and unstable transitions into the world of work, even among those who ended up having successful careers, reflecting increased uncertainty in the labour market and the rise of ‘patchwork careers’.
Lead author, Dr Alina Pelikh (UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies) said: “Our findings suggest that the distinctive British early transition from school to work, whereby the majority of British young adults go straight from compulsory schooling into the workplace, was still prevalent among those born in mid-1970s and 1980s. However, early employment experiences have become more complex, diverse and precarious with periods of unemployment, part-time employment, and inactivity becoming an integral part of the early labour market experience.
Dr Pelikh continued: “It is striking that nearly all young people born in late 80s have experienced some sort of instability during their school-to-work transition, even those who would ultimately be considered successful in their careers a decade after finishing school.
“Our findings fit with wider research that shows millennials are reaching milestones once considered to be the markers of adulthood, such as marriage, home ownership, and stable employment, at a later stage than earlier generations.”
The research found that although younger cohorts spent longer in education or vocational training, the transition into employment remained challenging. Furthermore, those from disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to achieve professional and managerial occupations than their more advantaged peers. Gender also played a role in the school to work trajectories of the participants, with female school leavers most likely to experience turbulent transitions with longer spells of part-time work and inactivity.
Read the paper: Increasing diversity, precarity and prolonged periods of education in the transition from school to work in Britain.
EmploymentYoung people
